Today is Earth Day and there are actually a number of different environment-related topics that I could write about relevant to wine. Sustainable agriculture, organic wines and bio-dynamic wines are a few topics that come to mind. But I’m going to write about a less sexy topic—packaging. Actually, packaging can be sexy, but it’s something that we often take for granted and don’t think about much.

There is dialogue in the wine community about the carbon footprint of glass bottles. The carbon footprint represents the carbon dioxide emissions created by the manufacturing, distribution and disposal of a product. The weight of glass bottles has a particular impact on the carbon footprint of wine due to the impact that weight has on shipping. Some have even speculated the eventual demise of the glass bottle. I don’t think that glass bottles will disappear from shelves any time soon, but there are a number of producers looking for alternatives. The FOUR “wine tube” is the latest example I’ve seen of alternative packaging for wine.

At its core, this packaging isn’t entirely new.  It is essentially a bag in a box, just like other boxed wines, but they have done a few things differently to distinguish this product.  First of all, they put some really good wine inside the package.  Many consumers will avoid boxed wines just because they have a bad reputation for having low quality wine, but this is good stuff.  Another difference with FOUR is that rather than a square box, they use a tube shape, which gives an elegant appearance that is less of a departure from the traditional bottle than boxes.

The producers claim that the FOUR wine tube reduces the carbon footprint by 50% versus traditional packaging.  I could definitely tell a big difference in the weight.  When I picked it up I thought it felt like two bottles worth of wine but, as you may have guessed by the name, this container holds the equivalent of four traditional bottles of wine.

Another advantage of the reduced weight of the packaging is lower shipping costs and some of those cost savings are reflected in the retail price.  This tube sells for $40, the equivalent of $10 per traditional bottle. To add to the eco-friendliness of this wine, the packaging is 100% recyclable and the labels are produced by a printer that uses wind power.

You may be reluctant to buy a container with this much wine because you’re afraid it will go bad before you finish it, but that is not as big of a concern as you may think.  Air is the enemy of wine after you open it and is what causes wine to lose its freshness.  The wine in this packaging isn’t exposed to air when you start pouring it and therefore will keep longer than traditional bottles after opening.  The producers claim it will stay fresh for 30 days after opening.   The wine was gone long before 30 days for me, so I can’t verify that fact.

Given the prejudice that many consumers have toward boxed wines I wanted to see what some would think of this wine, without knowing it to be a boxed wine.  I served this wine in a blind tasting alongside some other wines that were in the $30+ price range.  Seven of the nine people at this tasting selected FOUR as their favorite.

Cheap Wine Ratings Review

I found this to be a very good wine.  The nose is not very intense, but it is good and quite fruity. Blackberry, plum, raspberry and vanilla aromas come together to make a good, although soft bouquet.  The palate is big and full of ripe blackberry, plum and strawberry.  The tannins are smooth and silky. There is some Petite Sirah added to this wine and it is particularly noticeable in the richness on the palate and the feel of this wine.  The finish is medium in length and reasonably complex.  A bit of a toffee characteristic comes in on the finish.

Wine: FOUR
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.8%
Rating: 87
Price: $40.00 (equivalent of $10/bottle)